Day 10: Chocolate Orange Crinkles
The 12 Days of Vegan Christmas Cookies
You’ve no doubt had chocolate crinkles before. Every Christmas they make their way onto cookie platters. They’re so cute and festive with their snowy crusts. If you’re never had them, the best way to describe them would be a combination of chocolate cookie, meets brownie, meets fudge. Crispy and cookie like on the outside, soft and goey on the inside, and with a certain melt in your mouth feel thanks to the confectioners’ sugar. Which surprising doesn’t make them overly sweet. However, I do recommend using good quality dark chocolate or chocolate chips.
And while you may have had chocolate crinkles before, have you ever had chocolate orange crinkles? I’ll be honest, it certainly wasn’t my original intention, but I as I reached for the bottle of vanilla extract my hand stopped at the Grand Marnier. And once that was added, orange zest seemed like a logical next step… As I mixed up the dough the smell was intoxicating, and incredible familiar. It took me a while to realize what it was. Every Christmas my grandmother makes mini Italian pastries, similar to a calzone, but stuffed with a mixture of chick pea paste, chocolate and orange zest. I promise you don’t taste the chickpeas, but they act as a binder for the rest of the ingredients. And while there are no chickpeas in this crinkle recipe, the flavor of the chocolate and orange together is comfortingly familiar.
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier
- Zest of one orange
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk, or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- ½ cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips, melted
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the sugar, oil, Grand Marnier, orange zest, almond milk, and flax seeds.
- Once smooth mix in the melted chocolate, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as required.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Mix until just combined.
- Chill the dough for 15 minutes.
- Once chilled, using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough and roll into balls about 1-inch in diameter.
- Roll the balls in granulated sugar, and then in the sifted confectioners' sugar.
- Place the balls on the cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Don't flatten as they will spread during baking.
- Bake for 15 minutes in the center of the oven, until puffed and cracked.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cookie rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container between layers of wax or parchment paper.
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